Lemoore, California - Four years ago, Mt. San Antonio College walked away with its first 3C2A state championship, ending a run of four straight titles won by perennial California power Fresno City College.
On Saturday, head coach David Rivera’s Mounties repeated as team champions and claimed the third state championship in the last four seasons scoring 204 team points and outdistancing second-place Fresno City by 66 points at Golden Eagle Arena on the campus of Lemoore College in Lemoore, California.
Mt. San Antonio placed 11 of its 12 qualified wrestlers and crowned four champions and tied its school record for champions in a season, which it set last season. Fresno City had two champions and eight placewinners.
The first Mountie champ came at 133 pounds where top-ranked Jason Saenz topped Moorpark’s Mason Carrillo 5-0 in the finals. Saenz scored on a second-period takedown, an escape and a penalty point. The two met last week with Saenz winning the SoCal regional title 7-4.
Maxximus Martinez needed overtime to get past Palomar’s Joe Anthony Perez at 157 pounds. Martinez majored Perez in last week’s SoCal regional finals, but the two only managed stalling points against one another before the extra frame. Martinez converted on a high crotch with a minute remaining in sudden victory to claim gold.
Jack Estevez made it three-for-three with a 7-3 win over Cuesta’s Preston Scharf at 165 pounds in another rematch of last week’s SoCal regional final won by Estevez.
Mo Talebi claimed gold at 197 pounds, dominating the field with a pair of pins, a technical fall and an injury default. Talebi pinned Cuesta’s Chance Evans at 3:47 to put the cherry on top of his impressive tournament. Combined with last weekend’s SoCal championship, Talebi won each of his last seven bouts by bonus – he tech falled his way through last weekend’s regional.
Fresno City won the first of its two titles at 174 pounds as NorCal champion James Prudek won his second state championship outlasting Cerritos’ SoCal champion Tyler Hanna of Cerritos 4-2 in a bout that saw a pair of reviews that led to zero takedowns. Prudek won his previous championship in 2022.
The Rams other championship came in an all-Fresno City final at 285 pounds where Javier Martinez beat Joe Alaniz, 4-1
Palomar College finished third, pushing three wrestlers into the finals and coming away with a pair of champions.
The first of which was at 125 pounds where Caden Hampton fought through the disappointment of last week’s regional performance to capture the state championship, Palomar’s first individual title since Chance Eskam won the 285-pound title in 2017. Hampton scored takedowns in the second and third period to pick off Dakota Sanders of the College of the Redwoods.
Mexico U20 world teamer Diego Peraza gave Palomar its second champion of the night at 141 pounds as Peraza beat Cerritos’ Yoshia Funakoshi 12-7. It was a rematch of the SoCal final, also won by Peraza.
It’s the first time since 2016 the Comets have won multiple titles in the same year.
Victor Valley’s Frankie Stevenson was the only unranked wrestler to reach the finals and he made the most of it, taking out top-ranked Roman Loya 6-5 in the finals at 184 pounds. Loya beat Stevenson in last week’s SoCal semifinals. Stevenson defaulted to sixth at the regionals. Stevenson is just Victor Valley’s ninth all-time finalist and fourth state champion in school history.
Santa Ana College won its first individual championship since 2018 as SoCal regional champion Alireza Kaveh topped NorCal champion James Wright of Fresno City 8-3 at 149 pounds. Kaveh scored takedowns in the second and third period for coach Vince Silva’s Dons.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Regionally, the Southern California region dominated the finals, winning eight of the 10 weights. Six weights featured all-SoCal region wrestlers including four weights that were SoCal regional finals rematches. In all, 15 of the 20 finalists were from the SoCal region.
Mt. San Antonio assured itself of the team championship after going 5-3 in the semifinals. Fresno City kept pace on the top side, pushing four into the finals, but bonus victories and the three remaining Mounties in the consolation bracket locked up the crown.
Bonus points were also a key factor in Mt. San Antonio’s success, exemplified by wrestlers like Rylan Madrid, who rebounded from a first-round loss to finish fourth. He pinned three wrestlers on the backside of the bracket. As a team, Mt. San Antonio had a tournament-best 15 pins.
Earlier in the day, Dakota Sanders became the College of the Redwoods’ first finalist since 1982. The school brought back the wrestling program last year. It was also the largest geographical distance between two opponents as Palomar College in San Marcos is 733 miles from the College of the Redwoods in Eureka. It’s an 11 hour drive – and still in the same state. In case you’re wondering, that’s longer than a drive from New York City to Indianapolis, depending on traffic of course.
Mt. San Antonio’s Jakob Hand finished third and picked up the Gorriaran Award for most falls in the least time. Hand pinned all four of his opponents in a combined 11:23. The tournament’s fastest fall was registered by Caden Diamond of Sacramento City College. Diamond picked up a 22-second fall in his first-round consolation bout. Diamond finished seventh at 157 pounds.
2024 3C2A MEN’S WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
GOLDEN EAGLE ARENA
LEMOORE, CALIFORNA
Finals Results
State Rankings Noted
125 Pounds
#6 Caden Hanover (Palomar) DEC #5 Dakota Sanders (College of the Redwoods) 9-3.
133 Pounds
#1 Jason Saenz (Mt. San Antonio) DEC #4 Mason Carrillo (Moorpark) 5-0.
141 Pounds
#1 Diego Peraza (Palomar) DEC #2 Yoshia Funakoshi (Cerritos) 12-7
149 Pounds
#2 Alireza Kaveh (Santa Ana) DEC #1 James Wright (Fresno City) 9-3
157 Pounds
#1 Maxximus Martinez (Mt. San Antonio) DEC #3 Joe Anthony Perez (Palomar) 4-1, SV
165 Pounds
#1 Jack Estevez (Mt. San Antonio) DEC #4 Preston Scharf (Cuesta) 7-3
174 Pounds
#1 James Prudek (Fresno City) DEC #2 Tyler Hanna (Cerritos) 4-2
184 Pounds
Frankie Stevenson (Victor Valley) DEC #1 Roman Loya (Mt. San Antonio) 6-5
197 Pounds
#2 Mo Talebi (Mt. San Antonio) FALL #5 Chance Evans (Cuesta) 3:47
285 Pounds
#2 Javier Martinez (Fresno City) DEC. #1 Joe Alaniz (Fresno City), 4-1
MEDAL MATCH RESULTS
125 Pounds
3rd Place: Jimmy Reyes (Lemoore) DEC Rylan Madrid (Mt. San Antonio) 3-1
5th Place: Zane Cerda (Fresno City) FALL Eczequiel Jaurrieta (Fresno City) 6:03
7th Place: Derek Ruffin (Santa Rosa) FALL Jesse Hernandez (Cerritos) 2:21
133 Pounds
3rd Place: Gio Urbieta (Lemoore) MD Ricardo Solorio (Santa Ana) 21-8
5th Place: Ben Quilpa (Sacramento City) FOR Andrew Diaz (Victor Valley)
7th Place: Dustin Merlos (Lassen) TF Erickson Edpao (Santa Rosa) 7:00 (17-1)
141 Pounds
3rd Place: Chris Guerrero (Victor Valley) DEC Aldo Quintero (Mt. San Antonio) 7-3
5th Place: Talon Niimi (Sacramento City) FOR Shawn Torres (Rio Hondo)
7th Place: Brendon Ko (Bakersfield) FALL Azim Azimy (Chabot) 0:58
149 Pounds
3rd Place: Demarcus Turner (Modesto) DEC Brian Geiger (Mt. San Antonio) 7-6
5th Place: Michael Williams (Mt. San Antonio) DEC Phu Le (Sacramento City) 7-1
7th Place: Matthias Valdez (Victor Valley) FALL Vicente Rodarte (Santa Rosa) 5:16
157 Pounds
3rd Place: Islam Abdullaeu (Sierra) DEC Noah Reynolds (Fresno City) 8-3
5th Place: Grant Eklund (Cuesta) DEC Nicolas Pham (Cerritos) 7-5
7th Place: Caden Diamond (Sacramento City) DEC James Juarez (Bakersfield) 7-5
165 Pounds
3rd Place: Isaac Romero-Martinez (Modesto) DEC Philip Arroyo (Lemoore) 11-7
5th Place: Marshall Beecham (Cuesta) FOR Max McWilliams (Fresno City)
7th Place: DJ Weimer (Palomar) DEC Khalid Ghani (Modesto) 5-3
174 Pounds
3rd Place: Jakob Hand (Mt. San Antonio) FALL Adrian Juarez (Bakersfield) 1:50
5th Place: Maksim Sherstnev (Sierra) FOR Fazal Mohammad (Chabot)
7th Place: Javier Montes (Mt. San Antonio) DEC Kelly Little (Sacramento City) 4-0
184 Pounds
3rd Place: Ivan Natceli (Palomar) MD Andrew Zarate (Lassen) 9-1
5th Place: Farzad Hashimi (Cerritos) DEC Robert Felipe (Lemoore) 6-2
7th Place: Adrian Perez Pulido (Modesto) FALL Ben Setum (Cerritos) 0:50
197 Pounds
3rd Place: Rayhan Jaleel (Santa Rosa) FOR Dylan Henry (Palomar)
5th Place: Vaea Salt (Sacramento City) FOR Angel Cervantes (Bakersfield)
7th Place: Jaremiah Juarez (Rio Hondo) FOR Almazbekov Abdymanap (Chabot)
285 Pounds
3rd Place: Kendrick Salcido (Sacramento City) MD Julian Bilezikjian (Rio Hondo) 14-4
5th Place: Jonathan Garcia (Bakersfield) DEC Cody Ruiz (Modesto) 5-0
7th Place: Mustafa Farha (Palomar) FALL Bryce Meggers (Sierra) 1:37
Semifinal Results
State Rankings Noted
125 Pounds
#6 Caden Hanover (Palomar) FALL #8 Eczequiel Jaurrieta (Fresno City) 6:59.
#5 Dakota Sanders (College of the Redwoods) DEC #2 Jimmy Reyes (Lemoore) 5-4.
133 Pounds
#1 Jason Saenz (Mt. San Antonio) TF #6 Ricardo Solorio (Santa Ana) 17-2, 6:51
#4 Mason Carrillo (Moorpark) DEC #7 Andrew Diaz (Victor Valley) 9-2
141 Pounds
#2 Yoshia Funakoshi (Cerritos) MD #3 Chris Guerrero (Victor Valley) 13-4
#1 Diego Peraza (Palomar) DEC #4 Aldo Quintero (Mt. San Antonio) 9-4
149 Pounds
#2 Alireza Kaveh (Santa Ana) MD #5 Demarcus Turner (Modesto) 12-4
#1 James Wright (Fresno City) MD #3 Brian Geiger (Mt. San Antonio) 11-0
157 Pounds
#3 Joe Anthony Perez (Palomar) DEC #2 Islam Abdullaeu (Sierra) 10-6
#1 Maxximus Martinez (Mt. San Antonio) FALL #5 Noah Reynolds (Fresno City) 4:11
165 Pounds
#1 Jack Estevez (Mt. San Antonio) MD #3 Isaac Romero-Martinez (Modesto) 13-5
#4 Preston Scharf (Cuesta) TF #2 Max McWilliams (Fresno City) 15-0, 7:00
174 Pounds
#1 James Prudek (Fresno City) DEC #3 Jakob Hand (Mt. San Antonio) 6-2
#2 Tyler Hanna (Cerritos) DEC #4 Fazal Mohammad (Chabot) 5-2
184 Pounds
#1 Roman Loya (Mt. San Antonio) FALL #5 Farzad Hashimi (Cerritos) 1:45
Frankie Stevenson (Victor Valley) DEC #8 Robert Felipe (Lemoore) 5-2
197 Pounds
#5 Chance Evans (Cuesta) FALL #4 Dylan Henry (Palomar) 4:29
#2 Mo Talebi (Mt. San Antonio) INJ DEF #7 Angel Cervantes (Bakersfield) 0:31
285 Pounds
#2 Javier Martinez (Fresno City) DEC #6 Kendrick Salcido (Sacramento City) 2-1
#1 Joe Alaniz (Fresno City) DEC #5 Jonathan Garcia (Bakersfield) 4-2
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